Butter vs. Margarine Poll Results

In last month's issue of the HomeCook'n newsletter we asked, "Which do you use most, butter or margarine?" Here are the official results:

Butter (396) 75%
Margarine (91) 17%
A Low Fat Substitute (44) 8%

Total Votes: 531

Comments:

Like the taste of butter so much better

Far better taste and no worse fat than Margarine

butter...provides more flavour

I use only butter---cook sometimes with olive oil

100% butter -flavorful

Butter is better

Butter is always better!

Butter just works better n most recipes but margarine tastes better

Nothing is as good as real butter.

I know what butter is. Margarine has ingredients in it that I can't pronounce and I don't know what they are.

I really don't like using margerine because it is mostly water and I don't get the possitive results I want I have started recently using butter and like the results I just wish they would lower the price but then I guess when you weigh the water versus non water yo get more for your money.I know butter is best for baking,and I love the taste of it.I grew up on country butter the real butter and love it it is more like a spread.I just can't find it anymore.congradulations on the new arrival,who says that two many,I work in a chldren and have been a houseparent for 20 years and have worked here for 30 years and I always say there is allways room for one more. I will quit rambling now but I do love the homecook'n

We love butter, but my husband and I have high cholesterol (he has had heart surgery, stents, etc.); so we are now using low animal fat ingredients.

I don't like the other junk they put in margarine & lo fat subs

I started using unsalted butter in my bread recipes. Then after being put on low salt diet by my doctor, I started using it for everything. Especially with other ingredients that are highly salted.

This is an interesting subject, which has been an issue for some time among my friends and family. I'm glad to see an article on it.

I hate soggy toast

I've always been concerned about the fact that margarine is concocted out of chemicals in a laboratory. This doesn't sound to me to be an exactly healthy alternative to butter.

Brummel and Brown made w/yogurt is wonderful

I always use butter for cooking; I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, since I read that it is low in trans-fat and is mostly water.

it taste so much better

I was raised on margarine, but I know very well it was only because it was so much cheaper. I finally made the change when I went low carb and started being more conscientious about what I was putting into my body. The more natural, the better. I would rather go without than to use margarine, and especially a low far substitute! How fake can you get, low-fat fat!!!

how come butter is better???

Butter is no more fattening that regular margarine. I also think it tastes much better.

We only use butter and you don't really want to know how they make margarine! lol

taste goes a long way-butter

it's all about taste...need there be more?

I heard the comment in a health class, that margarine was 1 ingrediant away from being plastic, I never bought it again

Is there a study finding that butter is best FOR the body?

Butter is natural, the rest is chemical

Test: melt butter in custard cup 0 melt ANY margarine in custard cup---need I sy more?

Does not leave oily taste that margarine does

I have always used butter I am 71 years old my colesterol is 167.

My mother has told me that there is something not even digestable in maragarine so she's always encourages me to only use butter. Butter and margarine have the same amount of calories and fat so you're not saving there either. Just cholesterol.

I have switched to I can't believe its not butter, and I eat it now as it is always ready to spread and has a good flavor. Actually, at the last dinner I served, ALL the guests opted for the Spread instead of the butter, both on the table next to each other!

When I read the adkins low carb book there is many reasons not to each margarine; I believe it is one molecule away from being plastic. Yuck.; I'll stick with the butter even if it is more fattening.

Too much controversy on Margarine

Fresh milk butter [not pasteurized, and from grass-fed-finished cows] is the BEST!!

the flavour above all, and the hydrogenated fats seem not to be so healthy

cost is the factor, we prefer butters taste but we also look at the healthy aspect

To coin a phrase, "Butter is Better!"

I just recently read that margarine was produced for turkey farmers. It was to make them fat for market. The turkeys died so they needed something to do with the "white stuff" -- they added color and started feeding it to humans.

I only use unsalted butter as I have been told that the salt is added to hide the fact that the butter isn't fresh.

Butter is better for you in moderation of course. At least it is natural and not man made. People usually mess things up.

We used to eat only margarine until we learned that margarine contains bad fats, then we switched to butter because it is more natural and better for you. The more that margarine is improved, the worse it is for use in cooking and butter is mostly used for cooking. We still buy margarine because for some reason my wife started using it instead of butter as a spread; she used to only eat butter. I guess it because it spreads easier right out of the refrigerator.

We use both but because of the fat I prefer non-hydgonated margarine which is much healthier for sandwiches, toast and anything that you would spread on but for corn on the cob I prefer butter.

It would be interesting to know why people use what they do. My choice is based solely on cost.

When placing a dish of each butter and margarine under a stream of tap water body temp.. The Butter will not leave a residue like margarine. So, what is left in our own system?

It's all in the taste. Also, nothing cooks as well as real butter, unless you're sauteing at high temperatures. Then out comes the real olive oil. Butter tends to burn at high temperatures.

might as well enjoy the real thing the others usually have too many additives that later turn out to be harmful

I NEVER use margarine!!!

I like butter better but my husband doen't like it because it doesn't spread easy. Does anyone know how to make butter softer or more speadable?

I heard that if you took a tub of margarine and stirred it for a while, it would turn into plastic! And that came from a wel-known doctor. Ewww! Butter all the way - everything in moderation.

olive oil margarine

I'd rather have a small amount of the real thing then a little of the fake stuff!!!!

My baking and cooking just taste better with butter!

Anything that doesn't mold or spoil for months can not be good for your body.

I voted for butter, as did most people, but I was interested to note that quite a number of the comments contained information that was just plain wrong. Margarine is not "just one molecule removed from plastic", that is an urban legend. A quick google search will bring up a number of links refuting this, the following is just one: https://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/margarine.html (please read the whole link, it starts with a compilation of the misinformation, then refutes it).

only butter

I only use butter however my husband prefers tub low fat margarine

margarine is just one particle away from being plastic. Cockroaches

Our cardiologist says healthwise not much difference - use both in moderation.

We would prefer butter, but my husband has heart problems so we avoid the fat.

Butter has been used for years and you can't beat the old recipes for good taste. Birds are pretty smart, they don't eat chemicals. So why should we.

Have always used real butter, figuring it's better to use less of the real thing than more of a "substitute". Felt vindicated in this when all the news about transfats etc. hit the fan. There is also the matter of taste: a waitress once insisted it was butter they were serving when I asked for butter instead. It was a surprise to her that it was actually a "blend" of butter and magarine....

Butter has more flavor, is more natural. I am allergic to many additives.

When I can afford it.

there is nothing like the real thing...butter...margine is made for cooking oil and unless you buy one that is 70% it has lots of water and really is not good to bake with. Butter is higher in price, but better in flavor. Good margarine cost more, but be sure and read the label before buying any maragine, it not the name that important it is the 70% and no less than 65% that makes the differcents. I never buy any low fat subsitiute...

Dairy butter is what I use, but I sure miss the wonderful taste of fresh churned butter that I used to make at my grandmother's as a kid!

I too was raised on magarine...it was supposed to be less fattening! I love butter and buy unsalted.

margarine is lower cost

Margarine destroys brain cells

I really like the Land 'o Lakes spreadable butter with canola oil.

When we first got married my husband would only eat butter and would only eat margarine after 27 years he now prefers margarine and I prefer butter. Go firgure.

We really should use a heart healthy substitue, but instead we use minimal butter and enjoy the REAL taste!

I never had cholesterol problems until I switched to butter.

I'd rather eat a smaller amount of what I know is natural

Without the whole 9 yards, there is no comparison when it comes to the health detriments that are associated with margarine vs. butter.....I only use butter...raw if possible.

I don't like fakes. I eat a little of the real thing.

Most,nothing! I have ZERO TOLERANCE for margarine to the point that I absolutely forbid anyone to bring it in my house! In addition to hating the taste and texture,the smell,especially hot, creates an unbearably offensive stench when I am in the vicinity(yes,even if I was not previously aware of its presence. When I discuss the margarine of the 1940's,people recall the plastic bags of margarine containing a pimple of food coloring that when pinched,allowed the bag to be kneaded to color the white margarine. I can also recall the kind that was a block like lard/butter that was dumped in a bowl with the contents of a little paper packet of coloring that was added and mixed to uniform color in the bowl(much more stench than the plastic kneaded bag)

Just like it better without all of the additives that are put in foods these days.

I recieved an email just this month regarding this subject. The email stated that margarine was originally made to fatten up turkeys, but they wouldn't eat it. Instead of disgarding margarine they marketed it to us. It also stated that the chemical breakdown of margarine is nearly the same as that of plastic. We now pay $2.79 for 4 sticks of butter instead of .99 cents for 4 sticks of margarine.

Considering that chemicals used to dry clean your clothing are used in margerine manufacture, the more natural the better!

Margarine and low fat substitutes are dangerous!!!!

LOW FAT SUBSTITUTE AT TIMES, MORE BECAUSE OF COST WHEN COOKING FOR LARGE GROUPS

taste better same amount of fat as butter

it simply tastes better

Only the Best

Butter simply tastes much better. Besides I don't use all that much. Combine that with recent reports that margerine isn't really any better for you, maybe worse. The choice is clear.

Butter is best for flavor.

Here is an interesting discussion on the subject. https://www.ranchers.net/forum/post-5072.html

I use to buy only Margarine but after reading an artical about Margarine I haven't been able to buy another stick of the stuff.

We always use Imperial Margerine. Like the taste

I use any fat sparingly, but butter is my choice for toast, and in cakes and cookies. There is no comparison for the taste and texture you get when you use the real thing.

I try to eat real food whenever possible. Even my peanut butter contains two ingredients, peanuts and salt. I try to make it a rule not to eat anything I cannot pronounce.

Dairy in moderation can be healthy according to studies. Other studies show hydrogenated oils are always bad.

i like both

margarine is a wee bit too close to plastic for my liking

I use both,butter for toast, tub margarine for seasonings, and squeeze margarine for waffles

We have switched to "Smart Balance Margarine". It tastes like butter, is lower in fat and contains no trans fatty acids. We think butter is the best for cooking but even then we endeavor to buy only organic butter.

Margarine is processed and unnatural and hard on your body. Besides, butter tastes better!

Farmer Brown had one daughter; he named her oleomargine, because he hadn't any butter!

it tastes better in baking

Butter is so much better. I just wish that it was spreadable from the fridge. I realize that there are some whipped products that can be spread from the fridge, but they are too expensive for what you get. During most of the year we store the butter in the cupboard, but during the summer, it goes bad too quickly.

The trick is to not use it too often!!

margarine has plastic in it.

We love butter when the flavor of butter is warranted but due to the calories and chlorestrol content of butter we use a low calorie spray spread on a daily basis.

If one must use butter, it is better health-wise than margarine. It also will keep at room temperature.

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